Computer skills are essential in the Industry 4.0 era, and graphic design is considered a field of great potential. People who want to master these skills are becoming younger. Many students, as young as middle – school age, demonstrate their interest and mastery in information technology skills. Similarly, high school students soon show their talent and creativity in graphic design. The passion and efforts of the students, together with the appropriate orientation of the educational institutions have harvested encouraging results. The achievement of students from the Central Coast and Central Highlands at the recent Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship and Adobe Certified Associate World Championship is an example.

In the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship – Viettel (MOSWC – Viettel) 2021, a student from Ly Thuong Kiet Secondary School in Da Nang stood out from 1,800 candidates from high schools to universities and won the National Consolation Prize. Two students from Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted in Da Nang won the National Second Prize and Consolation Prize. In addition to individual prizes, Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted also won the School Prize – the prize awarded to the school whose students won the National First, Second, and Third Prizes. 

At the Adobe Certified Associate World Championship 2021 (ACAWC 2021), Da Nang also won as many as two National Second Prizes. The winning contestants are Thanh Hong Khanh from Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted and Nguyen Phi Buu from FPT University in Da Nang, which is of great honor for Da Nang as only 15 contestants across the country made it to the National Final Round.

Participating in the MOSWC – Viettel 2021 contest, the Lam Dong team excellently won 18/22 prizes for the Central Highlands region, specifically 02 First Prizes, 06 Second Prizes, 07 Third Prizes, and 03 Consolation Prizes. They honorably received the awards from the Microsoft Corporation, which aims to create an encouraging environment for students in disadvantaged regions to learn and improve IT skills.

Besides, Mr. Tran Quang Vinh Chanh – Dong Da Middle & High School and Ms. Le Thi Thanh Thuy – Loc An High School were also honored to be awarded the Region’s Best Teacher Award by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth.

Such achievements are the outcome of the growing popularity of the teaching and learning process according to international standards in the Central Coast and Central Highlands regions. This comes from the responsive leadership of the schools and the educational bodies in shifting the focus to developing computer skills for students. For example, Lam Dong Department of Education and Training recently took a bold step by implementing the computer skills training program according to international standards at all levels. While in Da Nang, educational institutions have actively adopted the IC3 Spark, IC3, MOS – oriented training and certification program for elementary, middle, and high school students.

This new approach contributes to the enhancement of teaching and learning quality at all educational levels, and the fulfillment of the goal of vocational educating in association with orientation for general education; thereby improving the effectiveness of international integration in the field of education and increasing the role of central provinces and cities in the Central Coast and the Central Highlands regions.